


Dark Academia Club

by babyfox (pixeljeno)



Category: NCT (Band), NCT 127 - Fandom, NCT Dream
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Dark Academia, Death, Disturbing Themes, Gore, LGBTQ Character, M/M, Murder, Queer Themes, Sexual Content, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:22:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24636751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixeljeno/pseuds/babyfox
Summary: "Have you ever...had dangerous thoughts? Ones that evoke a strong urge to act on them...in which you have a hard time controlling?""Yes...all the time..."In which Donghyuck is enticed by an aloof classmate into joining a secret club full of intelligent, pretentious men, but he soon realizes that there are far more sinister things at play within the group than he could have ever imagined.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Nakamoto Yuta, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno & Na Jaemin
Comments: 7
Kudos: 49





	1. present

A boy with golden skin races across the turf separating the Science Building and the Interdisciplinary Academic Centre. Beads of sweat form on his forehead as he sprints as fast as his legs can carry him, aiming straight for the closest door in sight. He clutches tightly onto the piece of crumpled paper with his schedule printed onto it. He mentally curses himself for not having printed a map as well. Now he was forced to rely on a picture of a sign he had passed by with the map he so desperately needed, but it doesn't contain a specified layout of where each room is.

The boy comes to a halt in front of the door and looks at the number displayed on it via a dull metal placard. 130. The boy is aware that this isn't his class, but he looks at his schedule to find that the room he was looking for was 127.His eyes flicker to the door on the right, but it says 131.

"Fuck!" he hisses under his breath as he pulls out his phone from his pocket and taps on the screen. He finds that he has merely 2 minutes before class starts, and his heart begins to pound in his chest even harder than before. He hastily shoves it back in his front pocket and determined that he should check the back side of the building before even considering taking the stairs to the second floor.

The boy breaks into a jog as he rushes around back, finding another set of rooms, just as he suspected. He approaches the first one and looks at the placard. 125. Realizing he's close, he takes off towards the third room down and checks the number. 127. He lets out a loud sigh as he places his hand on his chest and takes a brief second to catch his breath. He allows relief to wash over him like a tidal wave before reaching for the handle and proceeding inside the lecture hall.

The room is surprisingly vast for how relatively small the building appears to be from the outside, but the boy instantly recognizes that the reason was most likely due to there being only three rooms on either side of the building. The room is on a sort of incline as opposed to a leveled floor. It's set up similarly to a small auditorium but without balcony seats, and the stage was the professor's desk.

Several students look at their newly arrived classmate, making him instantly feel the awkward atmosphere that he has just entered into. He scans the room for an empty seat, but the majority are filled. He whimpers lightly and pouts at the idea of having to stand the entire period unless someone realizes they're in the wrong class. Thankfully, his eyes land on a single empty chair near the front of the classroom. Without giving it a second thought, he makes his way directly over to the seat as he counts his blessings for not being forced to awkwardly stand for nearly an hour and a half.

He places his crumpled schedule down and shrugs off his book bag, dropping it on the floor beside the seat and slipping into the chair as he makes himself comfortable.

That is, until he glances to his right.

Beside him sits a boy with raven hair and round spectacles with thin gold wiring. He wears a black varsity sweater with a tan stripe around the collar and two thicker ones around the sleeves where his elbows are. The v of the sweater plummets just low enough to expose his prominent collar bones: a glorious sight in itself. His trousers are a similar colour to that of the stripes on his sweater and have creases along the front of the legs. His lips are pursed into a hard line and his arms are crossed over his chest. His skin appears as smooth as porcelain with cute little moles dotting his cheek. His cheekbones are prominent and sharp, giving him a sort of killer appearance that would slice your finger open just to touch. He was nothing less than a work of art, and it was almost painful to witness.

The boy tilts his head from one side to the other, causing his neck to crack loudly. His eyes flicker to the staring boy and cocks an eyebrow at him, throwing the latter into a vague panic as he turns away to face front.

"Now that we're all settled in: I'm Professor Yoo and welcome to Poetry–28. You may refer to me as professor, Mr. Yoo, or Professor Yoo. To get a move on things, I'll start getting the syllabus passed around, now. It will be your lifeline for the next four months of your life. While I will be posting a copy of it online, I suggest getting familiar with it and putting this copy in a safe place to save yourself the hassle and cost of having to reprint it," the middle aged man in a near full suit states as he takes a large stack of papers and carries them over to the first girl seated in the first row. He drops the stack in front of them with a loud thunk and utters something to her before walking back over to his own desk.

"While the syllabi are being passed around, let's get started on roll call, shall we?" Mr. Yoo announces as he sits in his chair and picks up a packet. He begins reading off names, and the boy listens carefully for the one of the boy sitting beside him.

After several long minutes of monotonous reading out of names, Professor Yoo reaches the L's.

"Lee Donghyuck?" he calls out, snapping the tanned boy out of his zoned out trance.

"Here!" he answers as his hand flies up to signal where he is.

Yoo nods and continues down the list.

"Lee Mark?"

"Present," the boy beside Donghyuck answers coolly before casually leaning back in his chair.

Mark...so that's his name...

Donghyuck bites down on his bottom lip as he considers speaking to Mark, but his aura is incredibly intimidating in a manner which Donghyuck can't put into a proper thought.

Donghyuck feels the person to his left him tap his bicep. He turns and a girl with baby blue hair smiles awkwardly at him as she hands him a small stack of papers. Donghyuck takes them and whispers a faint 'thank you'. He takes a single syllabus packet and feels his heart begin to race as he realizes he would have to pass the stack to Mark.

Before Donghyuck can even fully turn towards Mark, the boy uncrosses his arms and lazily extends his left hand towards Donghyuck. Donghyuck places the papers in his hand, and watches as Mark takes them. He slips a packet out from off the top and then promptly passes the rest to the person to his right.

Donghyuck mentally kicks himself, feeling embarrassed at how desperate he is to talk to Mark despite the boy not showing any interest in speaking with him. Worse yet, Donghyuck wasn't quite sure why he was so nervous. It was unlike him to feel so anxious about speaking to someone. He was typically the type to strike up a conversation the moment he determined he wished to befriend someone. Perhaps it was Mark's aloof demeanor, or maybe it was his outstanding beauty. Donghyuck had no clue, but something about Mark was intimidating him to no end.

And part of him liked it...

"I will have a quiz on this posted tonight. Please complete it by midnight tomorrow. And...that's all I planned to do, today. If you are on the waitlist, please come see me with your forms so I can add you to the class. Otherwise, I will see you all on Thursday. Have a good day, everyone," Professor Yoo states as people begin packing up their things.

Mark reaches down and picks up a dark brown satchel from the ground. He pulls the strap over his head and lets it hang across his body. Donghyuck is thrown into a slight panic as he finally realizes Mark was about to leave. He shoots up from his chair and steps around, nearly accidentally bumping into Mark as he goes to walk past. Luckily for Donghyuck, Mark comes to an abrupt halt, preventing an accident from occurring.

Now face to face with the stunning boy, Donghyuck finds himself completely and utterly breathless. He was nearly at a loss for words. Mark furrows his brow at Donghyuck, finally prompting him to speak as he realizes how he was most certainly wasting his time by standing and staring.

"Sorry...um...hi...I'm Donghyuck," he finally speaks before chewing at the skin of his bottom lip.

Mark does not answer for a moment. His eyes slowly look him up and down, taking their time returning to meet Donghyuck's and make eye contact that is so incredibly tense that Donghyuck wants to squirm.

"I know," he murmurs as he mindlessly licks his perfect, full lips before scooting around Donghyuck and passing him by.

Donghyuck stands still, frozen in place as he tries to fully process what it was that he just experienced. In truth, he wasn't certain what happened was even real; it felt more like a delusion or some sort of daydream.

Dazed, Donghyuck picks up his book bag and wanders out of the lecture hall as the memory of speaking to Mark plays over and over again on repeat.


	2. infatuation

"He just–he looked so perfect, Renjun. He didn't look real," Donghyuck sighs with a faint smile on his face as he stares up at the ceiling.

"So did you talk to him?" his friend asks from the other end of the call.

"Yeah, I said hi and introduced myself...It was kind of awkward, though," Donghyuck admits as his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"Well? What did he say?" Renjun prompts him.

"He said 'I know' as he looked me up and down," he replies as he beams.

"Judgmentally or–"

"I don't think so...I don't know," Donghyuck admits as he rolls over onto his stomach and props himself up on his elbows.

"What else happened?" Renjun prods Donghyuck for answers.

"Nothing. He walked away."

"Oh...that...that's not good."

"Not good?" Donghyuck questions nervously.

"Not good," Renjun confirms, "If he was interested, he woulda tried making conversation or something. I think he was just being judgy."

"But-"

"Donghyuck, I'm gonna give it to you straight: not everyone is gay, and not everyone you meet is eager to befriend you. That's just life. I hate too say it, but I think you should ignore him and focus on your studies. He sounds like a lost cause, and you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Or embarrassment. Probably both, knowing you."

"But he-"

"Hold on," Renjun cura him off as a loud voice comes through clearly despite being at a distance.

"Huang Renjun! I told you it was your turn to do the dishes! Putting them into a sink full of water to soak for two hours is _not_ doing the dishes! That's procrastinating, at best!"

"Fuck, I'm sorry, I gotta go, man. Kun's gonna murder me if I don't go do the dishes, right now. I'll call you back later," Renjun speaks hurriedly, and before Donghyuck can do so much as say goodbye, the phone beeps, signaling that it had abruptly ended. Though Renjun promised to call him back, Donghyuck knows all too well that he won't. He often forgets if he is distracted by another task for longer than twenty minutes.

Donghyuck lowers his phone from his ear and places it on the bed beside his pillow. He rolls back over onto his back and stares up at the ceiling, yet again. He recalls the sight of Mark looking at him–examining him, in a way–just before licking his lips. Donghyuck wasn't certain if any of it was intentionally seductive in any sense, but it was enough to drive him crazy just thinking about.

Despite knowing he shouldn't think so much about a man he just briefly met, Donghyuck can't help but wonder about him. How old was he? What kind of things is he interested in? What makes him tick? Was he dating anyone? Did he want to? Or was he interested in something more casual?

Donghyuck tuts aloud to himself and shakes his head. He knows there's no point in asking such questions when the boy in question didn't bother to attempt to befriend him and instead opted to brush off his comment and walk away. Surely Renjun was right. He needed to let go of this sudden, odd infatuation. But the way his lips looked, they were so perfect...so... _kissable_. Though Mark looks like the type to kiss soft and slow, Donghyuck wouldn't mind it if he kissed him rough, pinned against a wall as he grows breathless. Or maybe he himself liked being kissed in such a manner? Both ideas particularly excited Donghyuck to imagine. Perhaps a little too much...

Donghyuck bites down harshly on his lower lip and glances towards his bedroom door. He knows his roommates–Hendery and Yangyang– _should_ be sleeping right about now due to Hendery's 6am class tomorrow morning and Yangyang's 5am shift at the movie theater downtown, but part of him is weary that one of them might wake up. The three of them previously agreed to their own privacy within the apartment, but the walls were thin enough as is, and if Donghyuck proceeded to disturb either boy's rest, he would surely never hear the end of it.

If only Renjun had decided to go to the same university as him. Then he could have been stuck with a roommate that was a heavy sleeper. Oh how he wished for a roommate that could sleep through anything.

Donghyuck lets out a displeased groan as he decides that it was in his best interest to fall asleep and try to forget about Mark. He reaches over for the lamp on his desk and clicks it off. Donghyuck turns over onto his side and exhales deeply as he shuts his eyes. He clears his mind as much as possible, trying his best to focus on how comfortable his bed feels in that moment. He can feel himself getting more and more relaxed, until-

"Fuck! I left my syllabus at school!" Donghyuck gasps as his eyes fly open. He whimpers at the realization and tries his best to think through his problem. Professor Yoo stated he would put the syllabus online. Surely it would be okay. He could just take the quiz tomorrow morning using the one online, then head to the library to print a new one out. Yes, he could do that. That would work out perfectly.

Donghyuck slowly calms himself down, but the sudden stressor that made him panic makes it difficult to fully relax. His mind now races with thoughts of the situation, and it refuses to stop. Donghyuck lets out yet another whimper as he realizes it was going to be quite a while until he would be able to sleep.


	3. delusional

* * *

Donghyuck clicks 'print' on the pdf of his professor's syllabus and leaps up from his chair. He whips his head around to look at the printer at the very end of the row of computers. With a small hop, he strides over to it just as the machine begins to hum and whir. He shoves his hands deep into the pocket of his pullover hoodie with the campus' name on the front of it. He rocks back and forth on the soles of his feet as the pages slowly print and fall into the tray.

As soon as the last page comes out, Donghyuck hums to himself and picks the small stack up. He turns on his heel to return to the computer he had left, but is immediately startled by the sudden realization that someone was just behind him, trying to pass by. Donghyuck nearly stumbles into them, but they are much faster than he is at preventing such a thing from happening. They come to an abrupt halt and place their hand on Donghyuck's bicep as to keep a sort of distance between the two of them.

Donghyuck stares with wide eyes that are ten times their original size.

"I-I'm sorry," he stammers out as he watches a few men pass him by, looking directly at them both. One of them slows his pace as if lingering to keep an eye on them. The boy before him glances their way for a brief moment before flicking back over to Donghyuck.

"I suggest you watch where you're going. You seem to have a knack for almost running into people...Particularly me," the raven haired boy speaks in a very articulate manner.

"I-I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to-"

"Mark, are you coming?" a man with long, bleached hair that comes down to his cheek bones asks almost impatiently.

Mark's eyes flicker between the man and Donghyuck before suddenly releasing the latter's arm from his grip and takes a step back.

"Yes, I'm coming," Mark confirms as his gaze lingers on Donghyuck for what felt like several long moments as time seems to slow, but Mark eventually tears his gaze away and joins the man who had been prompting him to come along.

Donghyuck watches as the man puts his hand on Mark's furthest shoulder from him and walks with him in the direction which the other men had walked in. Mark glances over his shoulder, his eyes resting briefly on Donghyuck before looking away once more and vanishing behind a case of books.

Donghyuck finds himself almost paralyzed by his encounter. It was as if Mark had managed to put him under such a deep trance that not only could he not move, he couldn't think, either. The only thing going through his head was the imprinted image of Mark standing before him with his circular lense glasses and flawless facial features. He isn't snapped out of his trance until the printer begins to loudly buzz, startling him into coming back down to earth.

Donghyuck paces back over to his computer and mindlessly tries to log out of his account. He allows his fingers to do all the work, as his brain is still refusing to carry a proper train of thought. Upon successfully logging out, Donghyuck slowly stands from his seat and finds himself unsure of what to do with himself. He fully intended to leave, but now his feet are carrying him towards a nearby table. He pulls an empty chair out and slumps into it. He places the papers onto the table, then reaches into his pocket as he slips out his phone. Using pure muscle memory, Donghyuck's fingers input his password and quickly locate the texting app. He selects Renjun's name and rapidly taps his thumbs against the screen as words fill the text box. He hits send without a second thought.

**I ran into Mark again at the library...**

Three dots appear inside a speech bubble on the left side of Donghyuck's screen. He waits patiently until Renjun's reply appears in the chat.

**I told you to let it go**

**I was trying to, but I almost bumped into him like last time. He stopped it from happening and told me to watch where I'm going**

**You know that's not a good sign, right?**

**But you shoulda seen how he was staring at me. His friend had to make him leave. When he was walking away, he looked back at me**

**Listen. He's not into you. Stop acting delusional. It's kind of creeping me out. You've never been this obsessed with a guy before**

**Is it because he clearly doesn't like you and you can't stand it? Because he's probably straight and all you're doing is setting yourself up to be embarrassed**

**Fine, don't believe me**

**I don't**

**Fine**

**Text me when you're not so fixated on this guy. I'm gonna finish my Precal homework**

At that, Donghyuck locks his phone and shakes his head bitterly. Part of him knew that maybe Renjun had a point, but it didn't ease the sour taste it left in his mouth to see him call him delusional.

Maybe he was, but unfortunately, the only way to find out was to wait and see. No matter what, Donghyuck knew it was best if he kept his distance. So, come tomorrow, he would need to either find a spot far away from his initial seat beside Mark, or completely ignore him altogether. He needed to forget Mark or prove that what he had been noticing wasn't just in his head. He was determined to do one or the other, and tomorrow was certain to help determine which.


	4. empathetic

Donghyuck enters into his poetry class and scans his eyes around the room. Only a handful of students have arrived, Mark not being one of them. Though vaguely disappointed, Donghyuck decides to sit in the seat he had previously taken up the other day. Surely if Mark did not want to be anywhere near him, he would seek out another chair to fill.

Donghyuck strides over to his seat and slumps into it. He takes off his bag and sets it on his lap. He unzips it and pulls out his notebook before reaching back in and rummaging around the bottom of it to take out a black pen. Upon finding it, he zips his book bag back up and bends down to place it on the ground beside his seat. When Donghyuck sits back up, he notices someone in his peripheral vision sit beside him. He turns his head and finds the same raven haired boy with gold circle lense glasses, sliding into the chair with his satchel in his lap. Donghyuck notices him set something down on the workspace in front of him, but he's too captivated by his looks to fully notice at first. His eyes flicker to the item Mark had set down and notices the familiar cover of the book.

"The Goldfinch?" Donghyuck blurts our as excitement wells in his chest upon recognizing it.

Mark ceases his rummaging through his satchel and slowly looks up at Donghyuck.

"Yeah...I've been reading it since..." Mark's thought drops off and he opts for a new train of thought, instead, "You've read it?"

"Yeah! I read that book at the start of summer break!" Donghyuck exclaims happily, "I mean...I've read better, but I still really enjoyed it. My main problem was that Theo kind of gets annoying as the plot progresses, but it was fine."

"Oh...is that so?" Mark asks with a hint of intrigue in his voice, causing Donghyuck to feel his heart skip a beat, "What's your favourite book?"

Donghyuck chews on his bottom lip for a moment as he considers this, but he knows the answer is clear.

"The Picture of Dorian Gray," he nods in confirmation.

Mark cocks his right brow at this response, instantaneously spiking Donghyuck's anxiousness.

"Do you only read popular works of literature?" he inquires calmly and politely despite Donghyuck expecting a judgemental tone of voice. He sounds more genuine and curious than Donghyuck presumed he was going to be.

"No, but I mean, they're popular for a reason, right?" Donghyuck shrugs slightly, "Just because a book is well-known and loved by a lot of people doesn't make it any less worth loving. I find it useless tohate something well-known just for a sense of superiority in being different."

Mark blinks slowly at Donghyuck as he seemingly takes a moment to process his words. Donghyuck evades his stare and keeps his eyes trained on the book sitting neatly on Mark's desk. He feels himself dissolving under the boy's intense gaze, wanting nothing more than for him to stop or to say something. Anything.

"What about you? What's your favourite book?" Donghyuck asks as he barely manages to avoid stumbling over his words.

"Mine? Oh..." Mark speaks as his voice gets lower, "Possibly Frankenstein...I found myself feeling empathetic towards the monster."

"Empathetic?" Donghyuck furrows his brow as he looks back towards Mark, "You mean sympathetic?"

Mark lowers his head and shuts his eyes. Upon raising it, he nods.

"Yeah, no, of course. Silly me. I...I uh tend to occasionally mix the two up," he murmurs.

Donghyuck tilts his head as he shoots Mark a puzzled expression, but before they can continue their conversation, Professor Yoo's voice projects across the room to silence everyone.

"Good morning, class," he speaks as he picks up a clipboard from up off his desk, "Let's get to roll call so we can hurry this class along and get out early."

Both boys face front and sit silently as they await their professor to call out their respective names.

Class goes by relatively slow for Donghyuck. He hardly pays attention to the lecture and mindlessly takes notes just based on points their professor flashes on screen via the bland PowerPoint he had created. He didn't need to pay much attention, though. He already knew the basic structure of a poem and how to properly read it. It wasn't anything new to him, but he tries his best to appear to be a diligent student as to evade Mark glancing over and seeing him not pay attention. The last thing he wanted was to seem like a slacker when, in reality, he was far from it. Still, he can't help but feel excited over his relatively short-lived talk with Mark, to the point of not caring much about what his professor was saying. He's on cloud nine and nothing could bring him down.

"Alright, that's it for today. Please make sure to read the provided Sappho poems in your books and be prepared for a lecture on them next week. I'll see you all on Tuesday," Professor Yoo announces, instantly sending a surge of panic through Donghyuck.

No, not so soon! Would he really have to wait five whole days before he could talk to him again?

The two pack up their things, and Donghyuck pouts at the realization that while he made a little progress today Mark, he couldn't further push becoming friends with him for several long days. Donghyuck questions if it's too soon to ask for his number, but immediately dismisses the idea. He wanted Mark to be the one to ask so he knew for sure Mark was interested in being friends.

Both boys stand from their chairs and pick up their bags. They look to one another and make eye contact. Mark clears his throat a bit and looks away towards the classroom door.

"See you around," he murmurs before taking large strides and rushing towards the exit.


	5. dangerous thoughts

Donghyuck takes a brief break from his homework to search for a nice book he can check out. Though he genuinely wanted a good read, part of him can't help but want to find something that he could also take into his poetry class and set on his desk to attract Mark's attention. Anything at all to spark another conversation with the beautiful boy.

Donghyuck's eyes scan over the spines of the books on the shelf, but none of them quite catch his eye. Before he is even given the chance to check the next row, Donghyuck spots a group of boys in his peripheral vision. He leans to fully peek around the corner and finds Mark with the same group as he had seen him with prior. They seem to be quietly talking amongst themselves and having a good time as they slowly funnel through an aisle just a ways down from Donghyuck. Mark is one of the few in the back of the group alongside the same blond haired man as before.

The man makes eye contact with Donghyuck, causing him to look back towards the books as he reaches for the first one his eyes land on. He pulls out the book and furrows his brow as he reads the title of it: 'If We Were Villains'.

"I quite liked that book," a voice whispers in Donghyuck's ear, nearly startling him to death.

"O-oh," he responds in a light stammer as he takes notice of how close Mark's face is to his own.

"But you didn't intentionally pick it up because it caught your eye, did you?" Mark utters quietly, "I still would recommend it."

Donghyuck nods quickly in agreement as he drops his eyes to the book with the skull on the cover.

"You seem nervous," Mark points out.

"N-no, I just-" Donghyuck struggles to speak as he glances towards the end of the aisle, "I'm still a little startled from you approaching me. I didn't expect it."

"So you're timid," Mark says in a sort of statement rather than questioning him.

"No, not...well...not all the time. Just sometimes," Donghyuck tries to brush it off as he turns his back on Mark. He takes a few steps to walk away and flee his persistent embarrassment with some semblance of dignity, but Mark catches his wrist in his grasp. He pulls Donghyuck back, causing the boy to stumble a bit and collide into Mark before he can catch his balance. But Mark was far more prepared. He catches Donghyuck in his arms without so much as flinching or showing any sign of panic.

Donghyuck lifts his head to look to Mark and finds that they are mere centimetres apart, now.

"Clumsy, too?" Mark breathes with a cocked eyebrow.

"I..." the tanned boy struggles to find the right words to speak.

Mark bites down on his bottom lip as his eyes wander Donghyuck's slowly reddening face. He begins to wonder if maybe Mark was considering kissing him, but was hesitating due to barely knowing one another. Part of him wished he would do it, anyhow, but he was unsure he would. Maybe if he showed his own eagerness to kiss him, then maybe he would know it was okay to do it. But how could he do that without risking embarrassing himself if he was wrong?

"Have you ever...had dangerous thoughts?" Mark inquires, sending a shiver down Donghyuck's spine, "Ones that evoke a strong urge to act on them...in which you have a hard time controlling?"

Donghyuck feels his breaths grow short and hallow, as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Mark didn't present himself as the type to speak such things out loud, much less tempt it to happen in the middle of a public library. Perhaps he underestimated him severely.

"Yes...all the time..." Donghyuck whispers as he watches Mark lick his lips.

"Then I guess that makes us one in the same, hm?" he responds in a low voice that makes Donghyuck shiver.

"Have you had these dangerous thoughts about me?" Donghyuck tries to prompt him.

"I don't know what exactly I think about you...I've never met anyone who... _confuses_ me...the way you do," the boy with glasses admits, "Hopefully one day I'll be able to figure it out."

The two stand in silence as neither makes a move. Donghyuck feels as if he couldn't hardly breathe in that moment, the light scent of Mark's cologne filling his nose as his heart pounds aggressively against the confining walls of his chest, screaming to be let out.

"I best get going. Ten can only cover for me for so long. I'd rather not be lectured for my absence," Mark informs him.

"I–erm–okay..." Donghyuck barely manages to get out in his dazes state.

"I'll see you on Tuesday," Mark says as he releases Donghyuck and darts off down the aisle and vanishing from his line of sight.


	6. squirm

Donghyuck bounces his leg anxiously as he stares up at the clock on the wall to his right. The long hand ticks away so agonizingly slow that Donghyuck wants to scream. He glances over his shoulder for what feels to him like the hundredth time, and there remains the same sight he had seen every single time he had previously checked.

A man leans forward in his seat just two rows behind Donghyuck. He was particularly handsome, but the way he was unabashedly staring at him with an intense gaze made Donghyuck squirm in his seat as opposed to blush or feel flattered. There was something inherently disturbing in the way his eyes rest on him, and Donghyuck wanted nothing more than for his theatre class to end already. He wanted to flee to his next one and shake himself of the piercing stare of the man.

"And that's all for today. On Thursday, we'll be going over medieval theatre, so be prepared to take notes...or pictures. I'll see you all then. Have a good rest of your day," Professor Do finally announces, causing Donghyuck to grab his bag and practically leap out of his seat. He scoots himself out of the row and flees down the steps towards the exit. Out of the corner of his eyes, Donghyuck notices his professor staring in shock at him as he races for the door and practically throws himself into it as he opens it, but he has no time to apologize or explain his behaviour. No, he had to get across campus and far away from the man who had been creepily watching him.

Donghyuck holds his bag securely to his chest as he bolts across campus as fast as his legs can carry him. He gets odd stares from a few students he passes by, but the judgement of others was the least of his concerns. He keeps running until he reaches the building which his poetry class resides. Donghyuck comes to a stop at the door and whips his head around as he checks to see if the coast was clear. Upon seeing no one else around, he exhales deeply, feeling his head seemingly pulsing to the quick beats of his heart.

Donghyuck enters the classroom, panting heavily and earning a perplexed stare from Professor Yoo.

"Are you alright?" he inquires with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yeah, I just...I just r-ran...here," Donghyuck explains as he struggles to breathe. This seemingly solidifies his belief that, while he could run fast, sprinting for longer than a minute or two was never a strong suit of his.

"I would ask why that is, but...please just take a seat before you pass out," the professor responds as he lowers his head to look back down at his laptop on his desk.

Donghyuck nods and shuffles towards his usual spot. He slumps into the seat and spends the next few minutes trying his best to control his breathing.

He waits patiently for Mark to show up, but the longer he waits, the more he questions why he hasn't arrived yet. Donghyuck glances at the clock and finds it's well past the time he usually gets to class. He turns in his chair to see if perhaps Mark decided to sit elsewhere, today. His eyes almost immediately settle on the raven haired boy with glasses. He sits a few rows back beside the man who had been watching Donghyuck during his prior class. The man stares directly at Donghyuck with pursed lips before leaning into Mark. His lips begin to move, and Mark glances in Donghyuck's direction. He shakes his head dismissively and looks towards the man. He begins speaking to him, causing the man to lean back in his chair and cross his arms, still watching Donghyuck. Mark's brow furrows, and his eyes flit down to his hand which rests on his workspace as his expression hardens. He curls his hand up into a fist but with his index finger pointed downward at the desktop. He jabs his finger down onto the surface as he seemingly either argues with or lectures the man. Either way, the latter does not appear happy. His expression is cold andemotionless.

Donghyuck feels uneasy and tense. He questions if the two were talking about him, and if so, what about? With the way they kept looking at him, it seemed very likely that they were, and something about that idea makes Donghyuck vastly uncomfortable.

"Hello, class," Professor Yoo's voice projects through the room loudly, managing to startle Donghyuck. He turns quickly in his seat as his heart thumps hard in his chest.

Donghyuck tries to listen to what his professor is saying, but all he hears is unintelligible noise. After about a minute of feeling unable to focus, Donghyuck slips his phone out from the front pocket of his jeans and sets it down in front of him. He hastily turns on the camera and switches to the video setting. He then hits the red button to record and leans back in his seat, taking his face in the palms of his hands as a small whimper escapes him. Donghyuck wants nothing more than to take his things and dash out of the classroom to get far away from the critical stares of Mark and whomever he was sitting with, but he knows that reading up on Professor Yoo's PowerPoint later would prove to be all but useless. His slides contained bare minimum information, and anything important that would help in filling out the worksheet was typically only stated in class. He mentally curses Yoo for making his lectures that way.

"Donghyuck?" Professor Yoo suddenly speaks out, causing the boy's stomach to drop.

"Yes?"

"I asked: do you know what an epic is?" he inquires.

"Uh, yeah–yes, it's a narrative poem that typically centres around a hero that does–uh...well...heroic deeds," Donghyuck fumbles for the right words.

His professor raises his eyebrows and nods slowly in what appeared to be approval of his response. He continues talking, but Donghyuck instantly zones out once more. He glances over his shoulder and spots the unknown man still staring coldly at him. Meanwhile, Mark smirks with some sort of satisfaction as he looks straight ahead at Professor Yoo.

Donghyuck swallows hard as he can feel vomit slowly rising up his throat. He was incredibly uncertain of what was happening, and despite trying his best to come up with a logical explanation, his brain refused to think of anything at all. He could only focus on how distressed he was by the idea of being watched for reasons unbeknownst to him. Regardless of if the man knew Mark or if there was any sort of misunderstanding on Donghyuck’s end, without context, the situation makes him feel severely ill and–to a degree–unsafe. Every fiber in Donghyuck’s being was begging him not to stick around and find out what was going on.

So he doesn’t.

Donghyuck snatches up his phone as well as his bag and shoots up from his seat. He navigates past the rest of the row of seats and makes a beeline straight for the exit. All eyes were on him, but he didn't care. He wanted nothing more than to return to the comfort of his shared apartment, and that's what he was determined to do.


	7. reservations

Donghyuck's fingers tap feverishly against his laptop's keyboard as he pushes himself to finish the final few sentences of his poetry homework. Just as he had feared would happen, he was missing quite a bit of information which he had needed for the homework. Still, he was able to use both prior knowledge and various websites to properly get a grasp on what he had missed.

He finishes the last line of his homework and looks up as he lets out a deep sigh. He rubs his face in his hands and digs his palms into his eyes, feeling tiredness washing over him as he wishes he had chosen to do his homework in his apartment. It wasn't as if they didn't have WiFi or that his roommates would disturb him. He didn't quite think it through entirely when he had made his way to the university library, but the moment he removes his hands from his face is the second it settles in why he had chosen to come to this place.

A group of men walk out from one of the aisles, and one of them stops in his tracks. It was the man that had been sitting with Mark, earlier. He stares at Donghyuck with a soulless gaze that felt vaguely threatening, then turns to another man whom Donghyuck had to admit was indescribably beautiful. He leans in and speaks to him, causing the ethereal man to turn to the others and say something. They entire group looks to one another before Mark steps out from their midst, making eye-contact with Donghyuck. The beautiful man gives Mark a slight push, prompting him to approach Donghyuck.

Donghyuck watches on with wide eyes as the raven-haired boy slowly approaches him with his hards firmly grasping a small brown book that seemed to have a faux leather binding.

"Hello..." Mark speaks in a quiet voice before glancing over his shoulder. Donghyuck does not reply and instead stares him down. Mark seems to take notice of this, because when he returns his sights to Donghyuck, he winces and speaks once more.

"Are you alright? You ran quite fast from class, earlier," he brings up.

"Not really, but–you know–that's what happens when you realize someone is watching you, follows you to your next class, and continues watching you," Donghyuck blurts out before being able to do so much as filter his thoughts.

Mark lowers his head.

"Ah...so you did notice," he murmurs.

"Of course I did," Donghyuck replies begrudgingly, "Mark, what the fuck is going on?"

Mark glances over his shoulder once more.

"I...I can't tell you that," he faces Donghyuck once more.

"Convenient," the tanned boy hisses as he slams his computer shut and stands up abruptly from his seat.

"Wait, where are you going?" Mark asks as he places one of his hands atop Donghyuck's, which rests on his laptop.

Although Donghyuck feels his heart flutter in his chest at the feeling of Mark's soft hand on top of his, he tries his best to ignore it and keep his composure.

"I'm leaving before you and your creepy friends try to pull something."

"Donghyuck, please understand–"

"Understand what? What is there to understand when I feel I'm suddenly being watched by people I don't know," Donghyuck lays into him as the anger in his chest suddenly bursts, "You know, that technically counts as stalking, right? Something that any person with a right mind would report to campus security, right?"

"Please, calm down. There's no need to get riled up. I promise you, there's nothing to worry about. I promise I'll tell you. I just can't tell you yet," Mark insists with a calm voice

Donghyuck purses his lips. He knew it would be common sense to not trust Mark for one second while he was refusing to tell him anything, but the soothing sound of his voice and the mesmerizing look in his eye is coaxing Donghyuck to wait to hear him out. Despite this, he still has his reservations.

"So you're saying this is a misunderstanding? That there was reason for your friend to be stalking me, but you can't tell me why?" he questions in a less confrontational manner.

"Not yet, but yes."

"And if I don't believe you?"

Mark exhales deeply and rubs the back of his neck.

"I can't exactly force you to trust me, now can I?" Mark shrugs, "I would like to think you would give me the chance to explain, later, but you have no reason to trust me. I accept that. I'm practically a stranger to you, after all."

Donghyuck chews on the skin of his lip at Mark's words. He seems sincere enough, and part of him desperately wants to trust Mark, but with trusting him comes disregarding the unsettling feeling that rests in the pit of his stomach at the entire situation. This causes Donghyuck to begin to question what lengths he was willing go just to get closer to Mark. Was it even worth it? Mark was incredibly attractive, but what if something were to happen to him because he didn't report the stalking?

No, certainly he was overreacting. If Mark claimed there was a genuine explanation for what was going on, then there must be.

Right?

Donghyuck notices Mark's eyes flicker down to their hands. He abruptly withdraws his, leaving Donghyuck to frown slightly at the sudden choice to stop touching him.

"You have until Thursday to tell me," Donghyuck speaks against his better judgement, "If you or your friends try to pull anything-"

"They won't. I swear on it," Mark cuts him off, "If they were to do anything to harm you..."

Mark trails off, refusing to finish his thought. He leaves Donghyuck questioning what would happen if any of them attempted to harm him. In addition to this, he wonders if Mark intended to make it sound as if his friends are the type to harm people? Or was it another mistake in wording as Mark had done before? He didn't quite seem like the type to accidentally word things wrong, yet here he was: sounding as if his friends were potentially dangerous people. But they didn't look dangerous at all. No one except for the man who had been watching him appeared to be much of the type to hurt anyone, but maybe that was his own naïveté.

"I don't mean to say that anything would happen to you; I just mean that, hypothetically, if any of them were to think of doing anything, I would...well...try to ensure your safety," Mark explains as his cool demeanor cracks ever so slightly; he clears his throat before continuing to explain himself, "That might sound odd to you, and I know we are hardly acquaintances, but..."

"Mark," a voice interrupts him, simultaneously crushing Donghyuck's hopes that Mark was about to confess to him that he liked him or found him attractive as well.

Mark's lips purse into a fine line as his nostrils flare out. He seemed quite angry over the interruption despite struggling to find the proper words to express what he intended to say.

"What do you want, Ten?" Mark hisses as he turns his head towards the same man with relatively long blond hair that Donghyuck had seen him with, before.

"Taeyong said he wishes to speak with you. Privately," he states as his eyes flicker over to Donghyuck. His eyes look Donghyuck up and down before returning to Mark, who's face is now completely drained of colour. His expression has completely fallen, and it appears he now has a sort of vacancy in his eyes.

"I-I'm so sorry, I have to go find out what Taeyong wants," he murmurs as he turns on his heel and paces back towards the group.

The man named Ten flashes him a toothy grin and nods to him. Without a single word uttered to Donghyuck, the man spins around and strides off, leaving the tanned boy to feel far more confused than he had been prior to speaking with Mark.


	8. risk

Donghyuck packs his laptop into its sleeve and zips it up. Though he doesn't have any homework to get done, Donghyuck still has an intense desire to go to the library. He knew that his intrigue with Mark was one of his sole reasons to hang around the campus library, and it leaves a slightly bitter taste in his mouth. Still, he couldn't deny that the boy was frustratingly unreadable, and it somehow managed to lure Donghyuck in despite his current concerns of him and his friends.

"Going to the library, again?" someone asks from the doorway to Donghyuck's room.

"Yeah," he confirms as he turns around to see a his roommate leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"You've been going there a lot, lately," the boy remarks as he shakes his head to move his lilac coloured hair out of his eyes, "I thought you said you preferred to stay in your room, away from people."

"It's nothing, Yangyang. I just...I found I like the setting a lot. It's nice in there," Donghyuck shrugs it off.

"How do I know you're actually going to the library?" Yangyang cocks one of his brows as a mischievous grin forms on his face.

"Would you like to look through my assignments or something? I don't know what you want from me to prove I'm actually going, but I am," Donghyuck denies as his annoyance towards Yangyang spikes.

"How much homework can a poetry class, a drama class, a psychology class, and a biology class possibly be giving you right about now? Didn't you say you signed up for the professors that are fairly easygoing?"

Donghyuck narrows his eyes.

"Are you insinuating something, Yangyang?"

"I'm just saying, a lot of people do some crazy shit while going to university. I have this friend named Ten who goes to a lot of-"

"I'm sorry, who?" Donghyuck cuts Yangyang off as the name causes a very huge, very bright red flag to raise in his mind.

"My friend?"

"No, what's his name?"

"Oh...it's Ten."

"Is he blond? With like...long-ish hair that comes to about here?" Donghyuck rambles out as he flattens his hand and swishes it from left to right with his fingertips grazing his cheekbone.

"Yeah, that's him," Yangyang confirms as he furrows his brow, "You know him?"

"One of his friends is in my poetry class. I've seen them hanging out together in the library," he explains.

"Ah...um...have you actually met Ten?" Yangyang questions as his voice gets a little quieter.

"Kind of. He hasn't talked to me or anything, but he's been with his friend a few times when he's approached me in the library," Donghyuck admits, "Why?"

"I don't know anything about the others or the guy who's in your poetry class, but...I'd suggest being careful around Ten. He's kind of...he's kind of a questionable guy," the lilac boy mentions.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean–well–he can be kind of an asshole, and he...uh..."

Melodic ringing comes from Donghyuck's back pocket of his jeans. He hastily whips out his phone and finds his "late" alarm is going off. His eyes widen at the realization, and he hits 'snooze'.

"Fuck! I'm sorry, I have to go. I'll make sure to keep that in mind when I see him. Thanks for the warning," Donghyuck speaks quickly as he shoves past Yangyang and bolts towards the apartment door.

He hears Yangyang utter out a confused 'you're welcome' just before he shuts the door and leaves his roommate behind.

••••

Donghyuck grows bored of aimlessly clicking around the university's website. He had been through nearly every possible surface-level webpage that didn't involve using the search bar in the top right corner, and it was mind-numbing. He puts his face into the palms of his hands and lets out a long sigh.

"You seem to spend a lot of time here," a voice murmurs softly from just over Donghyuck's shoulder, causing Donghyuck to inhale sharply and jerk his head up from his hands, "I see you here every time I'm leaving with my friends."

Without even having to look, Donghyuck knows exactly who was standing over him. He feels his hot breath ghosting his skin, causing goosebumps to raise as he knows his lips are just mere centemetres away from his ear.

"I...I just like to do my homework here. I actually quite like the environment," Donghyuck barely manages to come up with an excuse as he tries not to think about Mark being close enough to kiss his neck.

"So do I," Mark agrees, "Though...it doesn't look like you're doing homework. Unless one of your classes asked you to list off every single professor that teaches at this university."

Donghyuck feels his face heat up in embarrassment as he lowers his head.

"I actually was just..." he murmurs as he quickly tries his best to come up with a valid excuse. His eyes flicker up to the screen and notice each name also has a corresponding email just below it. A lightbulb goes off in his head instantaneously. "I was looking for my psych professor's email. I left her syllabus back in my room, and I needed to email her about an assignment."

There's a brief moment of silence that is just long enough to make Donghyuck feel his stomach churn as he questions if Mark would believe such a blatant lie.

"Hmm...okay. So I assume you still have a lot of work to do?" he asks. His vaguely disbelieving tone in contrast to his general casualness and lack of prodding for the truth leaves Donghyuck uncertain if he truly believed him or not. Still, he wasn't about to cave in and admit he hadn't been working on his assignments. The last thing he wanted to do was have to explain that he came here purely out of hope that he would see Mark and interact with him, again.

"N-no! Not at all. It's an assignment due next week," Donghyuck stammers out at first, "I finished my homework not that long ago."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep."

"In that case..."

Mark stand up straight and walks around Donghyuck's chair so he can stand beside him. Donghyuck notices the small faux leather notebook he had previously seen Mark carrying. He opens his mouth to ask about it, but before he can, Mark speaks first.

"The library is supposed to be closing in about half an hour," he hums, "Would you perhaps want to walk with me to the coffee shop just down the street from here?"

The tanned boy's eyes widen as his brow raises.

"Coffee? This late?" Donghyuck blurts out before even fully processing what Mark was asking him.

"You don't have to have coffee. They have some pastries and hot chocolate on their menu," the raven haired boy mentions as he uses his middle and index finger to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I...I don't know..." Donghyuck hesitates as his feelings clash with one another.

Part of him is screaming to take Mark up on his offer as it could potentially be the boy asking him on something of a small date, but Donghyuck couldn't deny the tenseness he feels towards the idea of being alone with Mark. His stomach twists and turns and ties into tight knots that make him feel incredibly uneasy. He glances around but none of Mark's friends appear to be anywhere in sight.

"It would be just us?" Donghyuck clarifies with a feeble voice, "No one else?"

"Just us," Mark confirms as he turns his head to look towards Donghyuck and smiles as if he wanted to laugh. Something about it makes Donghyuck nervous, though he doesn't quite understand why. Perhaps it was the fact he hadn't seen Mark smile like that before, or maybe it was that Mark now seems to be making advances towards him, which Donghyuck had previously assumed he most likely wouldn't do. Either way, it only seems to add to his curiosity about Mark and his intentions, but to go without insurance that he would be entirely safe doing so was a risk Donghyuck wasn't willing to take.

"One minute."

Donghyuck snatches up his phone, hastily inputs his password, and taps on his messaging app. He selects Yangyang's chat and gets to typing out his message with quick thumbs.

**I'm going to the coffee shop down the street from campus. If I don't come back to the apartment by midnight, file a report**

Donghyuck hits send and locks his phone. Without so much as waiting for a reply from his roommate, he takes a deep breath and finally gives Mark an answer.

"Alright. Let's go."


	9. trust

"So did you bring me here to tell me what's been going on, lately?" Donghyuck speaks first after a minute of silence between the two as they sit at a small, round table.

"No, actually," Mark admits, "I have until tomorrow, right?"

"I...guess..."

Mark nods slowly.

"Then I would like to just talk to you, tonight," the raven haired boy states, "I want to be certain I can trust you."

"Trust me?" Donghyuck blurts out in a near scoff, "You're the one with friends that are stalking me. If anything, _I'm_ the one who needs to be assured I can trust _you_."

"Perhaps it's mutual, then," Mark meets him halfway, "Though I completely understand that you have more reason to mistrust me at the moment. But that's not really the case...is it?"

Mark traces circles with the tips of his index and middle fingers on the tabletop.

"What do you mean?" Donghyuck tilts his head curiously.

"If you didn’t trust me at all, you would state that you don't rather than be relatively passive about doing so. You wouldn't have come here with me, much less walked alone in silence with me in the middle of the night while no one else is around," Mark points out, "So what is it? Are you brave, stupid, or do you just love taking risks that are potentially dangerous?"

Donghyuck stares blankly at the boy who now peers over the rim of his spectacles with his head tilted downward. He looks Donghyuck dead in the eye with a serious expression as he awaits a response.

"Are you saying there _was_ a risk coming here with you?" he counters.

"Haven’t I given you enough reason to believe there was a risk?"

"Well...yeah..."

"Then why are you here?”

Donghyuck falls silent as he feels his heart stop beating. The single question he had hoped Mark would never ask had been spoken, forcing him to come up with a believable lie. He racks his brain for some sort of reasonable explanation, but the longer he takes to come up with something, the more his anxiousness grows.His silence was exposing him, and with the way Mark cocks his eyebrow, Donghyuck knew he had to be onto him.

"I was hoping you were planning on telling me what's going on," he finally speaks.

Mark continues to gaze up at Donghyuck with piercing eyes, his expression stagnant as he displays his best poker face for several long moments. Donghyuck begins to feel sick slowly rising up his throat as he hopes Mark believes him. The corners of Mark's mouth gradually form into a wicked smirk.

"You're a particularly bad liar," he hums in a relatively smug manner, "You know that, right?"

"Huh? I–I wasn't–"

"Please, you look as if you're about to excuse yourself to go vomit in the restroom. Your face went pale the moment I asked. You seem distressed by the idea of being questioned why you came. How come?" Mark leans back in his seat.

"I...don't know what you're talking about," Donghyuck shakes his head dismissively, earning a light chuckle from Mark.

"So that's the narrative you want to stick with, hm?" he questions as he takes his index finger and lightly taps it against his lips.

Donghyuck swallows hard and nods.

"Yes, because it's the truth."

And it was, to an extent. Part of him was in fact hoping Mark would explain things. Just because he was primarily hoping this encounter was one which Mark would express interest in him didn't make his claim a lie. If anything at all, it was merely a little white lie. It was harmless and was far less of a threat to his dignity if Mark was truly not interested in him.

"If you say so," he hums as he picks up his clear cup with some sort of clear, green, iced drink in it. He takes the white straw into his mouth and sips on it, making direct eye contact with Donghyuck as he does so. Donghyuck squeezes his thighs together and places his hands on his lap. He clears his throat as he abruptly breaks eye contact and glances towards the register.

"Was there something else you wanted to talk about?" he attempts to change the subject.

"I actually had a couple questions I intended to ask you when first coming into this...but..."

"But?" Donghyuck snaps his head back towards Mark as the boy places his drink back down on the table.

"I think you've answered everything I needed to know," the raven haired boy says with a faint smile that doesn't sit right with Donghyuck.

"What? How? What were your questions?" Donghyuck inquires in a slight panic as he worries he possibly gave Mark the wrong impression.

"Don't worry too much about it."

"Yeah, of course. No pressure," Donghyuck says in a sarcastic manner as he crosses his arms, "It's not like you just made a cryptic comment and refuse to give context."

"Are you normally this mouthy?" he asks in a sort of amused manner, "Because something tells me you're not actually timid. Not typically, anyhow."

Donghyuck furrows his brow at Mark's question.

"I don't know if I would call myself mouthy."

"Then how would you describe yourself?"

Donghyuck bites down on his bottom lip as he thinks hard. He quickly thinks through as many adjectives as he possibly can from off the top of his head as he stares unblinkingly at Mark's hands.

He didn't particularly want to say he was brave since he has shown quite a bit of cowardice in his past. He didn't want to say loud, talkative, or energetic either since he found himself only acting that way in certain scenarios with close friends and family. Besides, Mark seemed like the quiet type that would surely be turned off by someone who is the complete opposite. The best way he could think to describe himself was to say he was intelligent, though it wasn’t exactly in relation to how he acts. Still, he was unable to think of the right way to convey how he typically acts.

Donghyuck's eyes flicker back up to Mark's face to speak, but he's quite suddenly caught off guard as he realizes the boy's gaze appears to be fixated on his lips–which he was still biting down on–and with the way he doesn’t even attempt to look away, it was seemingly without shame. Mark licks his own lips before finally making eye contact with Donghyuck.

"Still thinking?" he asks with a raise of his eyebrow.

"I...no," Donghyuck shuts his eyes and shakes his head, "I would say I'm intelligent.

"Hmm...how so?"

"Well...for one, I assess things from many angles, and while it tends to make me overthink things, I find it helps me make calculated decisions. I'm also fairly knowledgeable."

"Hm."

Donghyuck feels an indescribable tenseness take over his body with Mark's response...or lack thereof.

"Hm?" he attempts to prompt him.

"Don't mind me, I'm just acknowledging that I'm listening to you," Mark insists.

As Donghyuck goes to respond, he hears his phone ding loudly from his pocket. He exhales deeply through his nose and purses his lips.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs as he pulls out his phone and finds he has a notification from Yangyang. He quickly unlocks his phone to read it and is overwhelmed with irritation.

**Hendery says get home in 10 minutes or find somewhere else to stay**

Donghyuck utters out an aggravated 'what the fuck' as his thumbs type speedily.

**What's he gonna do? Lock me out? I have a key to the apartment**

"What is it?" Mark asks, "Is something wrong?"

Before Donghyuck can answer, he gets a reply from Yangyang.

**Idk he just told me to tell you that. He was complaining about how he has class early tomorrow morning**

"Fuck," Donghyuck hisses under his breath as he slams his phone down on the table, "I'm sorry, I have to go. My roommates need me back at the apartment so I don't wake them and disturb their sleep."

"No, it's okay. I understand," Mark responds, "I would offer to walk you back to your car, but I’m sure you’d rather walk yourself.”

"It's fine, I..." Donghyuck furrows his brow, "How do you know I have a car?"

Mark smirks in response.

"Lucky guess."

He abruptly stands from his seat and picks up his drink.

"Have a safe trip back to your apartment. I'll see you tomorrow," Mark nods to Donghyuck.

Speechless, Donghyuck finds himself only able to watch the boy with glasses walk away and exit the coffee shop. Though his head is still buzzing with questions, he picks up his phone and types one more message to Yangyang:

**Omw**


	10. anticipation

Donghyuck takes his usual seat and sets his bag down on the floor beside him. Upon settling in, he looks up to see Mark passing through the threshold of the open classroom door. The front of his hair sticks up as if he had pushed it back, but it never fully fell into place with the rest of his hair. Their eyes meet and Donghyuck feels his anticipation grow increasingly unbearable. His mind was so close to being put at ease about what had been going on lately that he wanted nothing more than to leap out of his chair and dash towards Mark to put things to rest that instant. But he refrains from doing so. Instead, he watches Mark approach the end of the row, and Donghyuck begins bouncing his right leg.

"Mark!" a deep voice calls out, turning several heads including both Mark and Donghyuck's.

The man that had followed Donghyuck the other day bounds up to Mark, coming to an abrupt halt once he's face to face with him. Donghyuck groans to himself and is forced to wait even longer to speak with Mark.

The man seems to speak calmly with his eyes occasionally flickering to Donghyuck while Mark nods slowly with a frown on his face. This goes on for a couple minutes–with brief moments where Mark appears to respond with single-word answers–until the man finally stops talking.

"You've got my word," Mark says at an audible volume with yet another nod of his head.

"We better," the man responds a little quieter, but still audible enough for Donghyuck to hear. He reaches up, fixes Mark’s hair so that it wasn’t sticking up anymore, and nods in Donghyuck’s direction. He then turns his back on Mark and shows himself out.

The raven haired boy proceeds to shuffle past seats and slumps into the one on Donghyuck's right. He exhales deeply and removes his glasses from his face. He tosses them lightly onto the desk space in front of him and rubs his face in his hands. He lowers them to reveals his tired eyes that are slightly pink from having rubbed them a little too hard, but Donghyuck also takes notice of the puffiness they seem to have. It looks as if he hadn't gotten much rest the night prior. Something about the way Mark appeared to be tired and stressed makes Donghyuck impulsively want to help him feel better, somehow. He knows that Mark would most likely refuse to open up about what was wrong, but he wanted to try, anyhow.

"Are you alright?" Donghyuck utters quietly, but Mark doesn't reply. He simply picks up his circle lense glasses and slips them back onto his face without so much as looking at him. He proceeds to reach down and dig through his satchel. He pulls out his small faux leather notebook and places it in front of him with far more care than he had given to his glasses.

"What's that for?" Donghyuck speaks again, trying his best to make conversation with the seemingly irritated boy.

Mark curls his fingers into his palms as his arms rest on either side of the notebook. He keeps his eyes trained on it and refuses to make eye contact with Donghyuck upon being asked this question.

"It's for poems I've written, recently," he breaks his silence, though he comes off as cold and bitter.

"Really? That's cool," Donghyuck says sweetly, "Could you read me one of them?"

"No."

"Oh."

Mark lets out a quiet grunt and shakes his head lightly.

"They aren't the best," he explains with less of an aggressive tone, "I'm much more accustom to writing descriptive texts. My friends suggested that I take this class, though I didn't have much of an interest in learning to write proper poetry...but...I've recently been hit with inspiration to actually try writing it."

Donghyuck's eyes glimmer at this.

"Well...if you need help or ever want to read it to anyone, I've actually been writing poetry for years," Donghyuck offers, causing Mark to finally glance at him with a raised brow as if he was properly surprised by this, "I won't judge, but it's okay if you don't want help or to have someone listen to your work. I understand if you'd rather keep it to yourself. I used to be like that, too."

Mark blinks a few times before finally responding:

"Maybe another day."

Donghyuck smiles at this, but before he can continue the conversation, Professor Yoo begins to speak and commences class.

••••

"We'll end it there for today. Make sure to read the assigned pages of Paradise Lost before the next class so we can be on track to having an in-class discussion by next Thursday. Have a good day, everyone," Professor Yoo announces, causing everyone to immediately start packing their things away.

Donghyuck reaches for his poetry anthology book, but finds himself suddenly frozen in place as he notices in his peripheral vision that Mark turn his body towards him and lean in slightly.

"Can I tell you something?" he asks in a low voice.

"I...what is it?" Donghyuck responds nervously.

"You wanted to know what's been going on, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"Well...my friends and I...we have this club. It's not an official campus club in any sense. Our club's existence isn’t recognized by the university, and it's not one that's advertised on any of the bulletins or in the garbage emails the university sends to us. Still, it's existed for quite a long time now. It's very exclusive and one which is kept a secret from all non-members. Me and my friend have been trying to make certain that you would be a good fit to join us. I sincerely apologize for my friend following you, I didn’t realize that was part of their procedure," Mark finally opens up to him, but his explanation still makes him feel uneasy due to how vague he was being at describing the club.

"What do you do?" he inquires, causing Mark to grin.

"Why don't you come and find out?" he murmurs, "Meet me at the front entrance to the library no later than five o'clock."

"Tonight?"

"Tonight.”

Donghyuck chews on his bottom lip as he contemplates his offer. Though Mark avoids telling him what the club is for and he feels a slight sense of uneasiness because of this, he can't help but feel incredibly eager to find out. Surely it was just some sort of unofficial literary club of sorts. It would explain why his friends convinced him to take poetry and why they hang around the library ever day. Or maybe it was a sort of vintage-based club? That would explain why they all seem to dress in vintage-inspired outfits. Either way, it was sure to be harmless.

"Okay," Donghyuck suddenly agrees, "I'll be there."

Mark smiles faintly at him, clearly pleased with his response.

"I'll see you then."


End file.
